A COMPANY which claims it was 'forced out' of Winsford by Vale Royal Borough Council after just three months is asking why the land it had to vacate remains derelict 15 months later.

In November 2004, mobile office manufacturer Premier Space bought Cheshire Mobile, a family firm which had occupied a site on Smokehall Lane opposite Grampian Foods for 30 years, with a view to breaking into the North West market .

However, Cheshire Mobile had only leased the site from Vale Royal Borough Council and when Premier Space took over, the company claims it had to leave because the lease was not included in the deal.

Branch manager Barry Gaskell said: 'We are an up-and-coming company which wanted to bring jobs to Wins-ford so it was a great shame when we were forced to move on to Crewe, taking 15 jobs with us.

'But the land we would have been on in Winsford is still not being used, even after 15 months. '

Mr Gaskell told the Chronicle his company believed the council had planned to sell the site for affordable office space, and claims its 'inaction' has deprived Winsford of employment opportunities.

In a short statement, the council's Estate Management team said the situation was more complicated than it first appears.

A spokesman said: 'I think that there might be some confusion here from the company.

'I cannot really say very much as this is likely to become a legal matter as we attempt to get the land back.'